Honor Thy Mother
by Freshy
Summary: An intense murder case involving Phoenix Wright takes Apollo and Athena by surprise. And the prosecutor? Phoenix's own cousin, a man who flew from Japan only for this trial, his true intentions unknown to everyone. With no murder weapon and Phoenix being too traumatized to even be sure of his own innocence, can the two lawyers save their boss? Or will the agency go up in smoke?


It's so weird, Apollo had to admit, how one could be surrounded by so many people yet still feel completely alone in the world. At least this is what he thought as he was walking to work in the cold weather, bumping shoulders with other people also on their way to their jobs. These feelings were especially strong with the death of his best friend still recent and Christmas being just around the corner. Clay was always sympathetic with the fact that Apollo had no one to spend the holidays with and invited him to celebrate Christmas with him and his family, but this year he didn't know what he was going to do. It would just seem strange to go to the Terrans like he did all those past years now that they lost their loved one. Maybe he would send them a Christmas card instead.

Great. All of these feelings had put him in a depressive mood. Now he was currently at his desk at the Wright Anything Agency trying to lose himself into his work, but he just couldn't focus with a weary mind and a heavy heart. Not even the upbeat Christmas music playing from Athena's neck gadget was helping much. Said coworker seemed to have noticed him and lowered the volume as she approached him.

"Heyo, Apollo." She greeted, to which he managed a small smile. "What's up?"

"The sky." He answered with a smirk.

She groaned. "Ugh, that's the oldest joke in the book! C'mon, you know what I meant."

Apollo sighed. "Well, you know. Work and stuff."

"Uh-huh. Stuff. What kinda stuff?"

"Athena, stop. I know what you're trying to do and I don't feel up for one of your 'sessions' right now."

"But—"

"I appreciate it, really, but not right now. I'll be fine. Can't I just be allowed to be down about something?"

Athena crossed her arms. "So you are sad."

Apollo shrugged. "Sure. But what's so wrong about that? It's a human emotion."

"But if you don't do something about it…"

"Athena, can we talk about something else now? Besides feelings?"

Athena looked suspicious, but she could tell that Apollo was not going to budge from his position. She would have to badger him later. "Okay. What are you gonna do for Christmas?"

As soon as she asked that, the discord in his heart heightened to the point where she was sure that he could see the pained expression on her face. Apollo just closed his eyes and pretended to be interested in his paperwork. "I…I'm not sure. To be honest, I'm probably not going to do anything this year." He was quick to direct the conversation away from himself. "How about you?"

"Y-Yeah, I understand. I'm not really feeling up for the holidays myself either." Athena saw where Apollo was coming from. For a long time, she just stood at his desk, twisting her hair awkwardly. Well, this got depressing fast, which was the opposite of what she intended. Apollo decided to break the silence by coughing into his arm.

"Where's Mr. Wright? I wanted to ask him if we were closed on Christmas."

"So you could come in and work?" Athena laughed, even though he was being serious. "I don't know. I got here early and opened this place up myself."

As if on cue, there came a ding from Apollo's computer, indicating a new e-mail; it was from Phoenix. Apollo did not hesitate to open it.

"Well, that explains everything." He muttered, skimming the message. "His mother is sick so he'll be taking a couple days off to visit her."

From behind, Athena snickered. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Look at the subject. 'Mama Wright.'"

"Oh. Yeah, that is kinda peculiar. Ah…we also have to pick up Trucy from the bus stop since she's on a field trip today."

"Wait, where did he say his mother lives again?"

"A few hours away from Los Angeles apparently. Mr. Edgeworth will stop by to pick her up when he gets off of work."

"I guess the boss doesn't expect us to get many clients today."

"Well…he's got good reason. When do we ever get a lot of clients?"

"…Touché."

* * *

In the comforts of her home out in the country, a woman in her late fifties was sitting in her recliner with a heavy blanket wrapped around her shoulders, sipping on hot tea. Being sick and living alone did not go well together, but she would get by somehow. She was thankful it was merely a head cold and not something more serious. With her not having a driver's license, it would be rather difficult for her to make an appointment with the doctor. Besides, all the medicine she needed was available to her in her cabinet.

She was just about to doze off when a knock came at the door. Curiously, she slowly rose up and went to go see who could be visiting her. She opened the door a crack, mumbling in a hoarse voice, "Wh-Who is it?"

"Housekeeping for Ms. Eurydice."

"What? I didn't call for any housekeeping…"

The man started chuckling. "Wow, you must be really sick to not have recognized your own son's voice."

Eurydice's eyes went wide as she opened the door wider. "Phoenix?"

Phoenix smiled warmly. "Hi, Mom."

"Boy, get in here. I ought to cough all over you just for taking advantage of my delirious mind."

"Sorry, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity." Phoenix responded as he embraced his mother. "How are you feeling?"

"Well…okay. Not good not bad. I just took some Coldkiller X and an aspirin, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. What are you doing here?"

"When you called me this morning, and I asked how you were, you said you weren't feeling well. I know it's hard being sick when you're alone, so I took a bus out here to take care of you."

Eurydice looked touched. "Oh, Son…but what about work? I know how busy you are. And your daughter…"

"It's fine, I'm currently not working on a case, and I trust my protégés to handle the office while I'm gone. As for Trucy, I asked my friend to take care of her, and he said he would do it. Trucy knows too."

"Your…friend?" She sounded nervous.

"The responsible one."

"Oh. Okay, good."

"Besides…your lungs…"

"Oh no need for that, Phoenix. You know I haven't had an infection since you were in high school."

"Still, did you at least call the doctor? Hook up the nebulizer?"

"You know I can't drive. And I haven't used that thing in years, I don't know where it is."

Phoenix sighed. "Mom…"

"Son, I know, but even if there was something, I really don't want to go to the hospital again. I said as much the last time I had to be hospitalized. All of that is just draining."

"I know, but…please. You scared me the last time. Besides, I did come over here to take care of you so…I'm going to object to everything you have to say!"

Eurydice rolled her eyes. "You're so stubborn, you know that? It must run in the men of our family."

Phoenix grinned triumphantly, helping his mother back to her recliner. "You rest, I'll go get you some more tea and find the nebulizer."

"Only if we can sit down and have a one on one chat later. It's been a while since you came to visit, after all."

He nodded, and draped another blanket over his mother before heading into the kitchen. Realizing that there was no more water left in the kettle, he would have to boil some more…which meant figuring out how to work his mother's old-fashioned gas stove. After a few attempts and swear words that hopefully she wouldn't be able to hear, he finally got it to combust, and he put the kettle on. As he searched for the nebulizer, he thought he heard a loud crash coming from the backdoor. He waited, but it didn't come again. Shrugging, he continued searching for the nebulizer until he found it in the pantry underneath a bunch of empty boxes. Shaking his head, he filled it up with his mother's medicine (he had to wonder how often she _did_ take it though), and brought it out to her.

"Did you hear that crash?" He asked, plugging it in.

"The neighbor's cat probably knocked something over." She said.

"I don't know…it sounded too big to be a cat."

"Heh, being a lawyer must have heightened your senses." Eurydice noticed him staring at the kitchen where the backdoor was. "Are you going to investigate?"

Phoenix thought about it, then shook his head. "No, it was probably nothing."

At that moment, that same noise sounded again only louder, startling them both. The sound of something shattering in the distance followed.

"Is someone breaking in?!" Eurydice tried to get up from her chair, but Phoenix sat her back down.

"You're not done with your treatment yet." He said. "I'll go check it out."

"Alright, but…take the shotgun." She pointed at the weapon hung above the mantle.

He just looked at her incredulously. "The hell are you still doing with that thing?"

"What? When you live alone, you need a peace of mind. Literally. A piece."

"Okay, I'll be right back. If you see anything, call."

Phoenix grabbed the shotgun to appease his mother, and quickly ran to the backdoor of the house. He placed his ear against the surface, just in case he could hear anything, but there was nothing. Slowly and cautiously, he twisted the doorknob and opened the door, which lead into the garage. It was fundamentally empty because his mother didn't drive, so she didn't own a car, however she did make use of the free space with her artwork that centered around her use of aerosol paints. Her lung condition prevented her from doing her hobby and occupation anymore, but her supplies, easels, work benches, and art were still lying around. Phoenix inspected every corner of the garage, but didn't see anything. All of a sudden, a crash sounded again and he nearly tripped into a canvas. Whirling around, he clumsily pointed the shotgun in the direction that he thought he heard it, but he saw nothing. He sighed out of frustration, giving up and already walking back to the kitchen when he stepped on something. Looking down, he saw a broken tape recorder next to a vent opening. He bent down to pick it up and inspected it; it was old, one that still held tapes instead of recording directly onto the device. Thinking it could be important, he pocketed it away and went back inside. The kettle was whistling, so he took it off the stove, turned it off, and poured his mother some tea before meeting her back in the living room.

"Did you chase off those hooligans?" She asked weakly.

"No." He answered, hanging up the shotgun. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Just tired. I think it's from all that medicine that I've been taking. And the nebulizer always makes me feel like that."

Phoenix stared at her skeptically, but just shrugged and took a seat next to her, handing her the tea. "I did find something interesting though. Is this yours?" He took out the broken tape recorder and let her look over it.

She inspected it for a while, but finally shook her head. "What, do you think I'm that ancient? It looks like something Ryunosuke would own."

"Mom, be serious."

"Geez, you can't take a joke whenever lawyer mode is turned on." She took a sip from her tea. "No, it's not mine. What's on the tape?"

"Hm, I'm not sure…" Phoenix opened it, and popped the tape out. Luckily, it was fully in tact.

"You found that in the garage?"

"Yeah, it was next to a vent. If you want my theory, I think that some kids recorded a bunch of noises, broke into your garage, left it next to the vent so the noises would be amplified, and let the tape play as a prank."

"But the tape would eventually run out, right?"

"Yeah. It wasn't intended to bother you all day. It would just be for a few minutes."

Eurydice shook her head. "I'll never understand this generation." She then pointed a finger at him. "Just like I'll never understand you. Why would you dare to go after a bunch of possible robbers with an unloaded shotgun, you bonehead?"

Phoenix could feel a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. "I-I didn't know it was empty…"

"Oh, Son, you worry me sometimes…"

Eurydice let out a yawn, so Phoenix decided to turn on the T.V. for her as he took her mug and brought it to the kitchen to wash out. By the time he got back, she was already fast asleep.

 _That was fast._ He thought. _She must have been really tired._

With not much left to do, Phoenix took a seat next to his mother and watched the T.V. It wasn't long before he too was beginning to fall asleep.

* * *

Phoenix awoke to the loud beeping of the fire alarm and the smell of smoke. When he was fully aware of his surroundings, he realized that his mother's house was on fire. He immediately bolted from his chair and went over to his mother, whom was still sleeping soundly amidst the chaos.

 _Damn, she's still out?!_ Phoenix couldn't help but wonder about this. Eurydice has never really been much of a deep sleeper. He disconnected her from the nebulizer and started to shake her lightly. "Mom! Mother, c'mon. Wake up! The house is on fire. We have to go."

But she was not moving. Phoenix was getting frantic. Finally, he tugged on her arm and let it go, but when he did, it just fell floppily onto her side. That caught Phoenix's attention, as flags were raised. For a moment, he stopped throttling her and just stared at her face.

"M-Mom?" He questioned, almost unable to find his voice.

He moved her shoulders, and her head just hung limply forward. When he pressed two fingers to her neck, there was no pulse to be found. Nor could he hear any heartbeat when he knelt down and hugged her close to him. She was gone.

Before Phoenix could dwell on it further, huge masses from the ceiling came falling down, bringing insulation and debris from the attic along with it. It was time to evacuate the house. Phoenix, covering his mouth with his shirt, ran around the house to gather a few items of value: some photobooks of families and other things that couldn't be replaced, and put them in a bag. He then picked up his mother and carefully carried her towards the door, dodging the flames as he did so. Finally, they were outside, and he laid her down onto the grass. By then, a small crowd had gathered outside, trying to see what was going on. One woman approached him to ask what was happening.

"I'm her neighbor! What's going on here?!" She exclaimed. "And…how is she still asleep?!"

Phoenix shook his head, looking devastated. "She's…she isn't…"

The woman was taken aback. "Then…how…"

The world around Phoenix was slowly becoming distorted, his head pounding and his legs becoming numb. All of a sudden, he couldn't bring himself to stand on his own two feet anymore and felt himself falling to the ground. The last thing he saw was the flashing lights of the firetrucks as they pulled up into the driveway, and he heard someone shouting, "H-Hey, pal! Pull yourself together!" before everything completely faded into black.

* * *

 **Yeah, I have another story that I'm gonna try to update...I lost the file for it. Might have to start over...sigh...oh well, enjoy this one!**


End file.
